By Kim Brown – ABC News
Cyclists and pedestrians are commuters too. While pedestrians do not always have the right of way when crossing the street, there are more rules protecting cyclists rights to the roadway than I knew.
According Maryland state law, the responsibility is on the driver of a vehicle to ensure cyclists are not struck, and not the responsibility of the cyclist to stay out of the way of the driver. The punishments for drivers who injure cyclists include a $1000 fine and up to three points on their license.
With some very sad stories in our state during the past year: the Hopkins student severely injured while struck on his bike and the Green Party candidate who was actually killed while cycling , the state legislature is working to enact stiffer penalties for drivers who cause major injury to bicyclists.
Click here to see the full list of rules for sharing the road with cyclists.
[B’ Spokes: I also found this video that kind of captures the “cyclists must stay out of the way” attitude. Was the driver’s “intent” to harm the cyclists, as some have insisted should be part of prosecution of unsafe drivers? Not really but look at the standard of due care exercised here vs what other drivers were doing, and that is what we are going after. Also note how much space she gives the car vs the cyclist, for me this is one of the fundamental changes in our culture, “it’s OK to pass a cyclist within inches even though a small mistake could kill but another car give plenty of space as you might get a dent or a scratch on your car.”]
https://www.abc2news.com/dpp/traffic/traffic_blogs/stay-in-your-laneoldId.20110412081002207